Adjunct Lecture and Lab Instructor in Biology

Bio 102:
Biological Basis of Disease - 2 lectures

Bio
112:
Form and Function in Living Organisms
- one laboratory

Position Summary:

The Department of Biology at Gettysburg College seeks part-time instructors for one semester in the spring of 2026 to teach two lecture sections of the first-year introductory course for non-majors, fulfilling the Natural Science with lab requirement for graduation, and one laboratory section of the first-year introductory biology course for majors.

Additional Information:

Teaching responsibilities:
Bio 102 lecture sections of 35 students are taught Monday-Wednesday-Friday from 8 - 8:50 am and from 9 - 9:50 am. An undergraduate teaching assistant who is a Biology major will be available to help assist by attending class and holding weekly review sessions. The Bio 102 course typically does not use a textbook, with readings and assignments drawn from online articles in popular media (Scientific American, National Geographic, New York Times and others, along with videos and other multimedia sources).

This course is expected to emphasize inherited and acquired disease, the immune system, vaccines and herd immunity, diseases of civilization (cardiovascular, cancer, diabetes, hypertension), and aging, with latitude to shift topics and emphases as desired.

The Bio 112 laboratory is taught on Tuesday afternoons, 1:10 - 4 pm, with 16 students who meet every week. An undergraduate Peer Learning Associate (PLA) would assist the candidate in the laboratory. This course emphasizes morphology, physiology, and function of animals and plants, and engages students in basic statistical tools including t-tests.

Additional expectations:
Bio 102 lecture: the candidate(s) will be expected to schedule office hours, typically two hours per week, and to be available to students by appointment as necessary. The candidate(s) will have access to syllabi and course materials from previous course iterations; or, the candidate(s) may develop a course based on their own interests and expertise. Bio 112 laboratory: the candidate will teach an established laboratory focusing on form and physiology and will have access to shared resources and a common lab syllabus.

Optimally, the candidate would observe the Monday afternoon laboratory taught by an experienced instructor.

Important skills: A familiarity with the scientific method and basic experimental design; experience in teaching Biology, and a love of teaching and excitement about undergraduate education is critical.

Students:
For non-major Bio 102, about half of the students are in their first year of college, and half are upper class students and are non-STEM majors. Generally, they are highly motivated and curious about science. For the Bio 112 laboratory, the great majority are first-year students intent on majoring in a natural science discipline, including Biology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Health Science, Environmental Studies, or Psychology with a Neuroscience minor.